Blind for Blonde
by Prose Vanity
Summary: Behold the life of Akira Tonoichi. Behind every heart breaker is a broken heart, but that doesn't mean a certain someone wants to fix it. As things fall into place, everyone finds that the puzzle wasn't going the way they expect it to. And Tono's puzzle was about to shift, big time. Chapter three: Tono was never going to be okay.
1. Chapter 1

_Ashy-note _I don't — never did, never will — like a woman-player version of Natsume because come _on_, as long as Akira Tonoichi lives, who needs Natsume? Don't forget to leave a review. (:

-;-

**Level One: The Order of Things**

When Akira Tonoichi decides he wants to chase after a girl, he chases said girl and naturally, as the order of things fall into place, he gets her. It was relatively easy; there were just a few steps to capturing a girl's heart. It baffled him greatly to think how some men (or most men, at that) complain about how difficult girls can get, because it was _easy_. It was like breathing to him.

He sauntered into the bar, long black hair streaming behind in graceful sashaying movements. Eyes turned wherever he passed. If he looked back, he would have seen ladies giving him The Lookand unconsciously licking their lips in the process. Despite the mid-back length of his straight hair, no one could ever take him for a girl. His broad shoulders and tall stature were enough to speak for themselves.

He reached the counter smoothly and winked at the female barista. "Martini, miss," he spoke in his default seductive voice. "Shaken, not stirred."

The female appeared to have melted. Tono couldn't blame her, but he couldn't help it when he subtly grazed the back of her hand when he took the drink.

_Too easy._

In the dimness of the bar's many gyrating lights, Tono's face was pale and striking. Wearing a black tuxedo, leaning casually against the counter, eyes lazily sifting through people (mostly women), he was definitely attractive. Sure, Hyuuga was probably as handsome as him, but Hyuuga was far too intimidating. Tono knew he was more approachable than the Fire.

"Hello, handsome."

And there was his proof. As he flicked his onyx eyes languidly to his right, a sultry smile made its way to his lips when he saw the woman sitting right beside him, swilling wine glass in one hand.

"Hello, gorgeous," he replied, swivelling his seat to face her. "Care for more wine?"

"My, my, you _are_ fast," she replied. "Your reputation precedes you, Tonoichi, but I never figured you to be the ladies' man they say you are."

So she knew him. That made things relatively easier. He could see she wasn't the easy type, but he could also see through her defences almost effortlessly.

Tono leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"_You can't say unless you've known, gorgeous."_

She moaned. _Bingo._

Fifteen minutes later he was slamming the doors shut behind them as they furiously kissed each other, barely making it to his suite's king-sized bed. It exhilarated him, the feeling of a woman wrapping her legs around his waist, clinging to his shirt and ravenously coaxing his tongue into fights. There was _power _in the way she held on to him for dear life, like she'd known him all his life. When they finally hit the bed, as he expertly and slowly undressed her and he listened to her ragged breathing and silly little moans, his power was complete.

And naturally, as the order of things fell into place, he took her and had her, and kicked her out of his hotel room by dawn.

Things were getting boring.

_Far too easy._


	2. Chapter 2

The phone was ringing, but Tono had barely enough energy to keep an arm propped up the bed, let alone reach for the phone on his bedside drawer. He let the ringing slide and tried to get some more needed sleep.

Twenty minutes later the damn phone was still ringing.

_Fuck this. _He grumbled and rolled over and put a pillow over his head, but the nonstop ringing paired with the annoying sounds of the vibration on wood made everything else unbearable. Tono knew it was a choice between futile sleep efforts and getting it over with as quickly as he could.

Reluctantly, he chose the latter.

"Hello?"

_"You finally answered, goddammit. Why weren't you picking up?"_

"I was asleep," Tono murmured into the mouthpiece. He had drooped back down to the bed, keeping one arm over his eyes as he blocked the early morning light. _Too fucking bright. _"What do you want, Yakumo?"

_"It's not so much what I want as it is what Persona wants," _the guy, Yakumo, grumbled in reply. _"Mission in three."_

"Wait, what?" What the _heck _would they have to do so early in the morning? "What do you mean, 'mission in three', today's our day off, we're not working until Thursday, I don't - what is _wrong_ with that creep?"

_"Tell me about it. He's even ordered Hyuuga to come with."_

"Woah." Slowly, Tono felt all traces of drowsiness disappear, replaced by a plethora of emotions ranging from angry to sadistic to pissed off to I-am-gonna-miss-my-tea-break-Persona-is-getting-an-earful-of-this-later. "They're assembling the Special Squadron?"

_"Yep."_

"All seventeen?" His brows knitted together as he made his way to his suite's kitchen counter. Reaching for the cereal, he said, "Any details?"

_"So far none. We've been asked to go to HQ today at nine-thirty sharp but as far as Anju is concerned, it's a Code C."_

His hand shook a bit and the milk that was pouring itself steadily into the bowl deviated for a moment from its course. "A code C? What are we, in an international crisis? Hey, dude, last I checked Russia was still intact and North Korea _didn't_ get to build their nuclear toys."

_"We'll find out. Man up, Tonoichi."_

Yakumo then hung up, leaving him to stew in a half-cooked broth of curiosity. He wondered why his hands shook. His hands never shook. Not really.

But _fuck_, he was gonna miss his ten-o'clock tea break.

* * *

He was twenty minutes early, as was his custom. Tono always believed that if he was going to be a jerk, the least he could do was be an early and well-prepared jerk. With his back against the wall opposite the windows with a view of the city landscape, he contented himself whistling and lazily sight-seeing. Occasionally he would bend back his head and groan and _very nearly_ swear; usually it was when he would accidentally glance at the clock from his peripherals and realize how so very far back from his tea break schedule he was being set by this _meeting _which no one even knew a thing about. Admittedly the idea intrigued him; nothing gets in the way of his tea break, but for this he actually broke one of his carefully and obsessively followed rules (albeit with second thoughts, which were considerably weightier).

_They_ just didn't recall seventeen agents for a happy drunken celebration of their hard work. Least of all call to order the Special Squadron: the seventeen best agents of the association, all of whom were part of a top-secret project aborted three years ago. In fact, if Tono was to be really honest with himself, he was a bit unnerved.

He couldn't really blame himself either; the last leg of the project was a huge, unmitigated disaster. It was first and foremost the reason why the project was _aborted._

At the reminiscence, he found his mind being flooded by images of that one drastic morning.

_"Tono, go!"_

He shut his eyes tight and banged his head on the wall. It was bad enough that he still dreamt about what happened without him dwelling on it while he was awake. He had to get a grip on himself.

_This meeting better be for good_ _cause_.

His reverie was interrupted when his senses picked up the quiet footsteps that ran towards him; everything else that followed happened on reflex. Without even flicking an eyelash, he spun on his heels and, anticipating the knuckles that flew towards him, twisted the attacker's arm into a pretzel hold. With his dark hair swaying in tune with his light and graceful movements, he threw a leg out and knocked it straight into the attacker's chest and smiled when he heard the man's satisfying gasp of pain.

Next thing he knew he had pinned down a smirking Natsume Hyuuga.

"You haven't aged a bit, Tonoichi." Red eyes bore into his with amusement and a tinge of annoyance.

Tono chuckled and held out a hand to pull Natsume up. "Natsume, it has only been three years and I am only twenty-nine. I'm not a grandfather."

"Tell that to Polka Dots."

A genuine smile crossed Tono's face as he resumed his sight-seeing back at the wall. "How's Mikan?"

Natsume dusted his suit and joined him. "She's never been better. Although a bit worse on the talking part."

"Hn."

His companion heaved a deep, troubled sigh, one that he knew he was bound to let out one way or another.

"What do you think, Tono-senpai?"

He closed his eyes but as soon as the recollections started pouring in he opened them wide again; he hated waking nightmares. "I don't know Natsume. I really don't. Right now I don't really want to think at all."

The silence that ensued afterward was not one the was unwelcome nor completely familiar to either. Tono knew it was simply because other than being part of the same squadron, he and Natsume never did have much more in common than Mikan. He also knew it was because Natsume was too deep in his own set of thoughts, memories which neither of them wished to talk about. They shared too many horrors.

Another groan escaped his lips as he remembered his forgotten tea time.

* * *

"You're late." Walking right behind Persona with a nasty look on his face, Hajime Yakumo's bandaged arms crossed in front of his chests; cheerlessly he admonished their late squad captain. "You're never late."

Tono followed suit quietly, eyeing everyone else present. A quick head count showed a total of sixteen; someone was missing, but _who?_

In his head he tried to remember the names, or at least faces, of the members of the project. There were eighteen originally, but circumstances made a roundhouse kick to his gut and brought down the number to seventeen. Thus at present there were seventeen agents alive.

But there were only _sixteen_ present.

They entered the briefing room and promptly took a seat. Tono's insides sank a little when Persona drew the blinds and started handing out envelopes. It felt like a déjà vu, and it wasn't the happy kind.

Tono's eyes weren't just made for spotting easy women. Tono's eyes didn't just look; it _saw_. And a close examination of Persona - a guy he hasn't seen in three long years - led him to conclusions he himself could not believe. The man looked the same. He had one part of his face covered up in a mask. From his ears still dangled an assortment of long-range weaponry cleverly concealed in the accessories pinned to the poor piece of cartilage. He was still clad in a long black trench coat. He still had his trademark black nails. And when the sleeves of his coat raise a little, Tono still could see the tattoo. What surprised him were the tired lines under the man's only visible eye and the limping manner in which he presented himself to them. All of these provided evidence to his theory; it didn't help that Yakumo had earlier pointed out his lateness either. Serio Rei, _the_ Persona, was never late for anything.

Persona reached out the last folder to him and a guy behind him. Eagerly, Tono opened the envelope only to find a tablet computer inside; it was open, and requiring a username and a password.

Persona's voice, low and serious, answered his unspoken question. "Enter your agent number and the password given to you three years previously."

Tono glared at the hi-res screen and cursed as he remembered a similar scenario ages back.

"Within that tablet are the necessary information you will be needing for this mission," Persona said as he went in front and assumed his captain stance. "The Special Squadron has been reassembled for reasons I cannot explicitly say; for the meantime, open your tablets and read what is in them."

The news surprised Tono. Persona had always been the straightforward kind of captain. Nevertheless, he entered the necessary log-in information and waited as the data began to load.

"However limited the information given to you regarding this matter will be according to your ranking for this mission. In the data you will soon receive you will find general mission details and your specific assignment, along with a roster of all the names and addresses they have deemed useful to you as you go along. Be warned. It may come as a surprise to all of you, but hold your ground. Whatever appears in your screens, I guarantee you it is not pretty news. Read it through as quickly as you can. The tablet shuts down two minutes after data loads."

_Loading, 85%..._

The screen flickered and the words were replaced. Tono's stomach tightened in knots, waiting, waiting, waiting...

_Data loading complete._

Tono held his breath.

**_Tonoichi Akira_**_  
__Rank: One  
Designation: Special Ops, Alpha_**_  
_**_Mission: Reconnaissance and recovery  
__Target: To be disclosed by captain in personal  
Time frame: 120 days_

Agent is to perform thorough research and scouting of area within one hundred (100) kilometers' radius of mission target. Further details to be discussed in private with Captain Rei.

As Tono read along, the knots in his stomach clenched tighter. Everything was so vague. But as the screen flickered off and the program logo made an appearance before the gadget shut down, it was all made clear as day.

Tono did not need to hear the words his captain had said.

"Agents, welcome back to Project BLIND."

* * *

_I am assuming none of you expected this to turn out more serious, eh? Well neither did I. We'll see how this story goes. D__o note that I've tried to transpose the characters into a relatively realistic version. Hajime isn't covered in bandages, only his arms are, and Persona's mask only covers half of his face. You guys gotta try and understand my reasons for this, but your trying will have to wait until further chapters._

_Also, please don't think this is rated M solely because Tono is a douche bag who likes to screw with women. I have deeper, darker plans for this fic._

_Tschüs!_

_- Ashy_


	3. Chapter 3

"Agents, welcome back to Project BLIND."

He almost broke the tablet in his hands, but he struggled for composure. It was one thing to suddenly suck them into the damn project, but it was another to "welcome" them back into it like old friends and companions in a wonderful merry-go-round trip around the world and all that fucking non-sense.

Persona began to speak in his brisk tone and stood in front of them despite the obvious hostility that radiated from all sixteen agents in the room. "I suppose a review is in order," the man said, pacing and avoiding all their stares. "Not that you need to be reminded, but… All the same."

Natsume bristled beside him and Tono heard the faint seething sound of his protégé's disbelief. Tono growled as well, and Persona's dark gaze lingered on his determinedly-stoic face, but Tono kept quiet.

"Three years ago, you were all convened at headquarters as members of a confidential government program. You were chosen by virtue of your performances as agents of this organization, because the project had required only the best and brightest to undertake its procedures. This project was called Project BLIND — the Bushnell-Lisbeth Isolation and Neutralisation Deployment Program."

The room was quiet. Tono knew by heart all that Persona was about to say, and as he tried to keep his snarky retorts from escaping him, he recalled a similar scenario, only with a different person next to him. Not a fuming young man, but a beautiful, cold woman. He wanted Persona to shut up and forget about the formalities, but aside from the fear of snapping his over-stretched patience and self-control, there was also the fact that Persona was never one to beat around the bush, so this storytelling probably had a purpose which was unknown to all of them for the time being. So Tono held his tongue and listened as raptly as he could. It helped stem the onslaught in his head anyway, even if just a little.

"The project was developed by a select number of scientists in the Japanese Alice Research Commission under the leadership of David Bushnell and Sono Lisbeth. The goal of the project was to neutralise Alices fighting in the war. Top Agents were chosen because the project needed to capture certain… Test subjects. Of course, it wasn't successful the first time, but that's why this second attempt is decidedly a better shot at things."

Tono snapped.

"So what now?" All eyes turned to him, but he just didn't give two shits anymore what happened to him in the brief. Persona looked as if he'd been expecting the outburst all along, and it riled him up even more. "I get your point, captain, we're back in business and all that fucked-up _jazz_ and you just implicitly told us 'Agents, welcome back to Project BLIND round two, we're really getting better so embrace your imminent and more-heroic deaths this time around', but really, _what now?_"

Years of training and working with Natsume Hyuuga gave Tono excellent senses when it comes to the murderous intent that the kid gave off, and right now that aura was practically kicking them all in the gut, but he didn't even bother telling him off. Natsume must have snapped as well, and Tono knew exactly how the kid was feeling. He felt the same enmity, if not stronger, and if Natsume's aura was kicking everyone in the gut then _his_ had to be choking them all and they should be dead by now.

He kept his eyes on Persona's face, watching for even the slightest reactions, only to be severely disappointed when the captain put a hand to his face and laughed humourlessly.

The low sound made Tono want to rip out Persona's heart and pull out his guts just to choke and strangle him with it. Thank goodness he's had so much practice when it comes to controlling his emotions. "Do _not_ laugh at me, you asshole," he said under his breath. "If we're all going to go through this shit again then you damn well owe us a good explanation for why this project has been recommenced when the last operation very nearly obliterated all of us." He felt a burning in his eyes, and her face was all he saw. "And in case you forgot, you lost an elite agent that night."

Persona grunted in agreement removed his hand from his face. The look in his eyes was just as murderous as Tono's, and his voice was low and quiet when he recited what seemed like an overused mantra. To those who knew better, the renowned captain's voice held all traces of grief and guilt and _pain_. "Agent four-four-six-three, Shizune Yamanochi, Elite Squadron co-captain, fallen in the course of her duties as a sworn agent and protector of the State. Date of death, August fifth. Time of death, six forty-six in the morning. Cause of death, unknown. First and only casualty of Project BLIND."

Upon hearing his captain recount the details, Tono was momentarily stunned and his vision went black; his memories, ones he fought long and hard to keep at bay, came back to him in stunning and physically painful clarity.

"Handler and trainer, Serio Rei. Mentor and immediate superior, Serio Rei."

For a moment Persona and Tono's eyes met, and guilt immediately replaced hatred. He looked on as the man approached him and whispered, "She was _my_ pride, Akira Tonoichi."

Persona stepped back and resumed the briefing and spoke in the same confident voice as if nothing happened, as if Tono hadn't just opened wounds that never really healed in the first place. Tono always admired his captain's resiliency, the frightfully calm way he dealt with his emotions; it was something he never really fully learned, and just then was all the proof he needed to ascertain the fact the he was lame when it came to emotions. Tono hated himself for losing control and heard little of what Persona said afterwards. He felt shameful of his outburst, felt like an ungrateful douche for forgetting how Rei was practically Shizune's father. He was a monster for saying all those horrible things, for thinking so selfishly, and he was pretty sure that if she were alive she'd have tortured him until he couldn't stay awake and then, in forgiveness, she'd _kiss_ him and a number of other things ensue—

"Tono, time to go." Tono snapped out of his trance, all too grateful for Hajime's timely interruption, and saw his comrade looking at him in masked concern. "You alright?"

He nodded slowly and, in a feeble imitation of Persona's dismissal, sneered at his friend. It was all he could do to stop himself from breaking down and looking even more of the idiot he already made of himself.

He checked his watch – eleven twenty-five – and decided it was time for his ten-o'clock tea break.

"Same time tonight? I need myself some lady's love."

* * *

Whether it was a conscious decision or not, Tono opted for the kill when he laid eyes on the first curvaceous body that caught his attention. Like always, it didn't require much effort and wasn't even truly worthy of his time anymore; he has considered getting rid of this habit, but he was a man with needs, and he needed to forget. It was ridiculous and he knew it wasn't a good alibi, but somehow he felt too weak to think of any other solutions relatively better than this, whatever this was.

He wanted to punch Hajime though. The dick had the gall to look at him in pity before he left with the woman at the bar.

"Oh, right there, yes…"

Tono smirked as he looked down at the woman squirming beneath him. His wandering hands, already feeling up the heat of her core, touched and grazed all throughout the various places that he had come to know so well already. He watched in nonchalance as the female whimpered with each movement of his well-practiced hands. All too easy, all too repetitive, but as he felt the familiar pressure building up in his groin, he let it slide.

Better this than lonely nights alone with no one and nothing but his thoughts for company.

He kissed her roughly, cupped her breasts and squeezed just right enough to draw a gasp from her, and continued his adventurous torment, refusing to begin the tedious process that was the highlight of his evening. He kept his eyes trailed on her and body, but he never even saw her eyes until she glanced up at him. When he did, her bright eyes transported him to a different time, in a different place, with a different person, in a different and unreal life.

"_Don't be a sissy, Akira. We're both well-aware of the consequences but I'm sure you feel the same way."_

"_I can't. Shizune, I can't. There are lines between us that are better blurred than crossed."_

"_Then get your hands off my breasts and don't kiss me while saying so, you dimwit."_

The woman cried out in pleasure. "Tonoichi, _please_," she mumbled, and again he was steamrollered.

"_How can I not kiss you? You're too delectable, Shizune, you're too delicious… You have no idea how sweet you are."_

"_You're getting better at this romance stuff, Tono."_

"_If I'm going to stay with the strongest woman I know, I'd have to be prepared to break her down every time."_

"_What makes you think you'll break _me? _Don't be so full yourself."_

"_I have my ways, Shizune Yamanochi."_

She had gasped at those words. It was the first—and last—time he ever heard her beg for him.

"_Akira Tonoichi, please…"_

Tono heard Shizune's words as clearly as if it had been _her_ beneath him, and his eyes flew open as he quickly clambered off the woman and stood at the corner of the room, shaking so violently, covering his eyes and furiously running his hands over his head, pulling his hair and spewing curses as he fought off the sudden spiking pain that the memory brought him.

Why _now_? Why now, of all times?

The woman, who he vaguely remembers being called Shizuka, leapt out of the bed and ran towards him. "Tono! Tono, oh my god, are you okay?"

_Even her name… Gods damn this life._

"Tonoichi! Answer me, love, are you okay?"

On an ordinary day, he would have had multitudes of pick-up lines to answer that question with, but today wasn't an ordinary day. In fact, if Persona's news proved to be truer than he allowed it to be, it was never going to be an ordinary day from this point on.

And Shizune was back in his mind.

Shizuka held him close and tried to shush him, or lull him into sleep. He could hear the sounds of sobbing, but he didn't know where the sounds were coming from even though he was pretty sure it could only come from one place. Shizuka must have heard the answer in the sobs.

So no. Tono was _not _okay.

Tono didn't think he would ever be.


End file.
